PM Returns Six Harriers, Led By Champ Chandler
The Parry McCluer High School boys cross country team will look to build on last year’s third consecutive Class 1 state championship.
The Fighting Blues return six runners from last year’s team, including last year’s individual state champion, senior Kebryl Chandler.
Juniors Caleb Cooper, Sam Carpenter and sophomore Sebastian George all ran in the state meet last year also, with Cooper placing sixth to earn all-state honors by finishing in the top 15.
Sophomore Victor Poluikis returns as well, as does sophomore Matthew Cooper.
Joining the team this season is sophomore Seven Medina, giving the Blues seven runners.
There are no high school girls running for the Blues this year.
Chris Poluikis is in his 24th season as PM’s head coach, while Jacob Zimmerman returns for his third year as the Blues’ assistant coach.
Poluikis said that, despite graduating all-state runners Josh Cooper and Logan Wheelock, who is continuing his academic and running career at Division I school Radford University, he anticipates another good season for the Blues. “Sure, we graduated some of our top runners, but we still have a great core and, barring injury, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be competing for another title,” said Polukis. “It’s not unrealistic based on the times we had this past track season. Kebryl ran a sub-nine minutes [in the 2-mile run], and the rest of the guys improved and had great times.”
Chandler ran the 70th-fastest 2-mile time in the country at the high school level in last year’s spring track season. “He’s in such a good rhythm right now and honestly needs such little coaching.”
Poluikis said some of this season will hinge on how well the younger members of the team adapt to high-pressure situations.
Similar to recent seasons, Poluikis expects the biggest competitors for PM to be Auburn and Eastern Montgomery. “Auburn and Eastern Montgomery always have some fast guys and make it challenging later in the season,” he said.
The first meet of the season for the Blues this year will be the Blacksburg Relays this Saturday at the Blacksburg High School cross country course.
“It’s the closest you can get to a scrimmage for us in terms of cross country,” said Poluikis. “ It’s hilly, unorthodox with two miles and usually very humid. That being said, a good or bad performance at that meet doesn’t tell us too much about how the season will go.”
